1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a cleaning assembly for an electrostatographic marking engine, and more particularly to a cleaning assembly which includes a casing that is insulated to decrease the amount of contamination on the cleaner casing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical commercial reproduction apparatus (electrostatographic copier/duplicators, printers, or the like), a latent image charge pattern is formed on a uniformly charged dielectric member. Pigmented marking particles are attracted to the latent image charge pattern to develop such images on the dielectric member. A receiver member is then brought into contact with the dielectric member. An electric field, such as is provided by a corona charger or an electrically biased roller, is applied to transfer the marking particle developed image to the receiver member from the dielectric member. After transfer, the receiver member bearing the transferred image is separated from the dielectric member and transported away from the dielectric member to a fuser apparatus at a downstream location. There, the image is fixed to the receiver member by heat and/or pressure from the fuser apparatus to form a permanent reproduction thereon.
However, not all of the marking particles are transferred to the printing material and some remain upon the belts or drum. Therefore, a cleaning assembly is commonly used to remove the excess marking particles. The cleaning assembly usually includes an electrostatic cleaning brush (detone roller), a skive, and a receptacle to hold the excess marking particles (waste toner material). The devices within the cleaner assembly generally rotate to remove waste particles.
However, a problem occurs when charged airborne toner collects on the electrically grounded conductive casing of the cleaner. This causes contamination of the casing that effectively reduces the overall reliability of the cleaning subsystem. This problem is solved by the invention described below which physically insulates the cover (casing) of the cleaner.
In view of the foregoing and other problems, disadvantages, and drawbacks of the conventional cleaner assembly, the present invention has been devised, and it is an object of the present invention, to provide a structure and method for an improved cleaner assembly.
In order to attain the object suggested above, there is provided, according to one aspect of the invention, a conductive fur brush cleaner assembly for an image processing apparatus. The cleaner assembly includes a plurality of rotating components, an insulated outer cover surrounding the rotating components and a conductive inner cover surrounding the rotating components. The conductive inner cover accumulates a charge from the waste particles within the cleaner assembly such that the inner cover becomes biased. The conductive inner cover is biased to have the same charge as the waste particles within the cleaner assembly such that the conductive inner cover repels the waste particles. The rotating components include an electrostatic brush for removing the waste particles from an intermediate transfer member. The rotating components include a detoning roller adapted to remove the waste particles from the electrostatic brush. The invention also includes a skive for removing the waste particles from the detoning roller. Further, the invention includes an auger adapted to move the waste particles removed from the detoning roller to a waste receptacle.
The electrical insulation of the cleaner cover allows a net charge to build up on the electrical insulation and prevents charge from the airborne toner from being bled to the cleaner cover. This net charge that builds up on the electrical insulation is of a polarity such that it will repel any additional toner of the same polarity.